Calling All Forum Admins

[MAM]

This is for any members out there that have forums of their own, that they have set up and admin (non-fish forums that is).

I volunteer for a non-profit organization (no-kill euthanasia-list rescue). Our website is a critical facet of our organization, as it is how the general public hears about us, finds our events, and sees our animals. Our shelter is essentially a virtual one, as we do not currently have our own facility. Because of this, our volunteers do not get many chances to interact with others except at specific events. New volunteers have trouble meeting and getting to know old volunteers. Etc, etc.

So I'm going to propose that we add a volunteer forum to our site, a place where volunteers can interface, discuss the animals, events, fundraising ideas, express concerns, etc. But before I can do that, I need to present them with possible formats to go with, and I need to show them that these are affordable (we're non-profit = short on funds for this sort of thing) and user friendly formats, that are secure and can be easily run.

What I'm looking for is suggestions for affordable (if not free) boards that are secure, and easy to get started with. Also, if you have any you would suggest steering clear of, whether due to cost, due to lack of securities, or if maybe they're just a bit more complex or whatnot, I'd love to hear about that too (but no bashing please).

I'd appreciate links along with the names of forum providers you'd suggest (to the provides site, not your personal forums mind you). I've started my research, but there is just so many choices out there that this could take a long time. I'm hoping for some help to narrow down my choices a bit so I can present this in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks everyone!!

 

[SirMinion]

It's generally considered that the best, most customisable and most secure free board system is phpbb.

There is an ENORMOUS user base for support, modifications and plug ins, the core code is constantly updated to plug security holes as they're found and all this for free and with absolutely no advertising

LadyMinion runs two boards based on phpbb (for 'phans' of The Phantom of the Opera)
PhanForums.net
PhantomGerry.net

And we both ran OddFish.net until its recent demise (due to lack of spare time) which was also a phpbb.

 

[The-Wolf]

personally I prefer invision free boards. has all the support that paid for invision boards have but you have to put up with advertising links.
of course MAM you are already used to invisions layout as this board is an invision one

check out my invision free board at
talkscifi

 

[SirMinion]

personally I prefer invision free boards. has all the support that paid for invision boards have but you have to put up with advertising links.
of course MAM you are already used to invisions layout as this board is an invision one

check out my invision free board at
talkscifi

Why would you prefer a board with ads and a terrible history of hacking over one without?

 

[Puffer_freak]

I agree...go with phpbb...

They're the best out there, that I can suggest!

 

[pica_nuttalli]

personally I prefer invision free boards. has all the support that paid for invision boards have but you have to put up with advertising links.
of course MAM you are already used to invisions layout as this board is an invision one

check out my invision free board at
talkscifi

Why would you prefer a board with ads and a terrible history of hacking over one without?

why do people still use Internet Explorer? familiarity and easy access, of course.

i'm interested in this topic as well; i've been thinking about starting up a side forum myself. could you fellows link to the "service providers" you use to host these boards? thanks.

 

[SirMinion]

could you fellows link to the "service providers" you use to host these boards? thanks.

http/www.phpbb.com

http/invisionfree.com

 

[fish_keeper2]

phpbb is good. ive made to forums with it. its very easy. if you guys are interested in checking em just pm me(these forums i cant link to here, one is my own fish forum and another is not allowed here(incase your wondering it is age appropriate)

btw my forums never really got of the ground...........

any ideas of where i can "advertise" for free so that i will be able to try and start em up again.

 

[Dragonscales]

www.addme.com is a site that lets you submit your site to a couple of search engines for free. There are others out there too though, just run a quick search on google to provide plenty of options.

 

[Teelie]

PHPBB is by far the best of the freeware board systems out there. There are of course better ones but those generally cost a lot of money, in the triple digit range at least. A real rip off IMO especially since PHPBB can be modified to do practically anything.

 

[MAM]

Sounds like phpBB is quite highly recommended. Thanks guys. Now I have a couple of resources to get the real research done with. Appreciate the comments and suggestions. Wish me luck!

 

[Snetty]

Before I comment on the different forum scripts available, i'll just give a little background about myself so that people are aware that my words come from experience rather than 10 minutes of forum activity. I've been a moderator of a large Computer/Technology Forum (DeviantForums.com mods feel free to remove this link if you think i'm pimping) for some 2 years now. I've been running my own company for over a year now (3dpixelnet.co.uk mods feel free to remove this link if you think i'm pimping). By trade, I consider myself a webdeveloper, so I like to think that I do a little more than dabble in server side scripting (a category which forum scripts fall into).

Anyway, onto the topic in hand. Many people have recommended phpBB, from my own personal experiences with the script, I've found that whilst it's fairly user friendly, and has probably the most addons available for it, it is by FAR the most unsecure forum script I've ever had the misfortune to use. On top of my own personal experiences, my business is webhosting, and as such I generally spend half my day chasing around after phpBB forum owners who's scripts are getting hacked and generally tampered with by people who have no business doing so.

Invision Power Board is the first script that I ever used, at the time the free version provided pretty much all you needed to run a forum. Unfortunately from what i've heard, the free version is very limited these days. Other than that, it's pretty secure (or as secure as free scripts are ever likely to be), and has some addons available.

There are of course better ones but those generally cost a lot of money, in the triple digit range at least. A real rip off IMO especially since PHPBB can be modified to do practically anything.

The defacto standard in forum scripts is vBulletin, which is not free (cos it's the best). It doesn't cost triple digits, infact it costs a measly £40 a year. It's not a ripoff by ANY stretch of the imagination, you get PROPER support and it's by far the most secure script I've ever used on the internet. It about matches phpBB in terms of the number of addons available, but the advantage is that the addons have been written by (in general) professional webdevelopers/software developers rather than script kiddies who wouldn't know what a secure script was if it slapped them in the face. As for ease of use... it's light years ahead of anythign I've ever used.

 

[RandomWiktor]

I use conforums (which is free), and have for years with no problems. They are a little on the basic side, but that's probably good if you don't know a ton of HTML and fancy stuff anyways; I hardly knew how to operate a computer when I got my first forum, and I found it immensely user-friendly and easy to work with. The urls are also easy to remember; just (yourchosenforumname).conforums.com And, I think in the 5 or so years I've used it, the site's gone down maybe twice, and has always returned within 24 hours.
However, I don't know much about how secure they are. I've never had trouble, but I've only used mine for RPGs, personal sites, character pages, etc.
I would def. suggest, however, for a non-profit group considering phpBB if you want something that you know is a sure shot.

 

[rEvolution27]

if it helps, i use invision power board and i find it much more user friendly (on admin side) than phpBB. It's quite easy to skin and customize. for what i know about the free verion is that skinning and other tools that make life easier are missing however you can live without them/get around them. Everything you need to run the forum and moderate it and customize it to a certain extent are thre in the free version and for you need i don't think you'll need to pay for it. I can't compare it to phpBB because i can;t remember too much about itm but i remember when i switched i was alot happier.

Heck THIS is an invision forum. And kudos to the deviant forum mod, love that site.

 

[Snetty]

And kudos to the deviant forum mod, love that site.

hey cool, our fans reach far and wide.